On Wednesday night ­Stuart Pearce OBE will take charge of his ­country for the first time as ­caretaker manager.

There will not be a prouder Englishman in the stadium.

Twenty-five years ago, ‘Psycho’ made his international debut against Brazil at the same venue and would go on to ­collect a further 77 caps.

I played alongside him in the England defence for that match in 1987 and Stuart immediately made a huge impression on me with his strong voice and assured ­performance.

He gave me an almighty ­rollicking when on one occasion I failed to pick up a Brazilian striker at the far post.

There’s no side to Stuart. You see what you get – he doesn’t even have a middle name – and what you do get is raw honesty and incredible ­enthusiasm.

His initial England squad selection has mixed the old with the new and given some, like Micah Richards, another chance to make a mark at international level.

As far as I’m concerned, the more youngsters that are taken to Euro 2012 the better. These Championships should prove to be great preparation for the World Cup in ­Brazil in two years time.

Pearce will not enforce the jack-boot discipline of Fabio Capello when the squad gathers today, but he will demand that everyone respects why they have been selected and for what purpose. You upset Stuart Pearce – you offend your ­country!

Many of the group for the Holland game have been with the Under-21s before and will know ­Stuart’s methods better than more senior players, but this squad has an ­exciting appeal to it with plenty of pace, youth and eagerness.

However, there are still question marks over the range of choices at left back, where Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines are the only real options.

While there are some tremendously quick youngsters out wide and up front, Pearce has ­included a few more mature campaigners through the spine of his side, namely Scott Parker, Steven ­Gerrard, Gareth Barry and James Milner.

The latter two have had a good season with ­Manchester City but, for me, would not start at Euro 2012 as, hopefully, Jack Wilshere’s nagging injury problems will be over by then.

Gerrard (above) should be named as captain, which is long overdue, and play alongside Parker in the centre of midfield.

Pearce seems to like a 4-2-3-1 system, having used it at Under 21 level, but there is flexibility within this group to change to other shapes.

It will be fantastic to see the Three Lions led by an Englishman.

But the ­players had ­better ­perform to their limits, as Stuart Pearce definitely doesn’t do friendlies!